Page 57 - Vladimir Putin

Good representation of heads of state, govt at G20: Event chief coordinator

Regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping not attending the G20 Summit, G20 Chief Coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Wednesday

Kim Jong Un may meet with Putin in Russia this month, says US official

A US official said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia soon to meet with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin tries to acquire military equipment for use in its war in Ukraine. The official, who was not authorised to address the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. expects Kim will make the trip within the month. The official said the U.S. isn't sure exactly where or when the meeting would take place, but the Pacific port city of Vladivostok would be a likely possibility given its relative proximity to North Korea. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson noted Monday that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang last month and tried to persuade North Korea to sell artillery ammunition to Russia. Watson said, We have information that Kim Jong Un expects these discussions to continue, to include leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia. She added that the U.S.

Focus should be on position taken by nations: EAM on leaders skipping G20

With some leaders deciding to skip the G20 Summit, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said the focus should be on the position taken by countries on key burning issues than on the levels of representations at the conclave. "At the end of the day, countries are represented by whoever they have chosen to represent them. The levels of representation do not become the final determinant of the position of a country," Jaishankar said. He made the remarks at a discussion on Doordarshan. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced in Beijing on Monday that China's President Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi this week and the Chinese delegation will be led by Li Qiang. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi his decision not to attend the summit in-person as he has to focus on the "special military operation" in Ukraine. Putin had skipped the Bali summit of G20 in November last year as well. In his comm

Putin says there will be no new grain deal until West meets his demands

Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began on Monday with the Turkish leader seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports. Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations a year earlier. Russia complained that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn't been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year. Opening the talks, Putin said he was open to discussing the grain deal, among other issues. The two leaders met in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, where the Russian president has a residence.

Ahead of Putin-Erdogan talks, Russia attacks Ukraine's grain exporting port

Residents of Izmail port, one of Ukraine's two main grain exporting terminals on the Danube River in the Odesa region, were urged to seek cover by the air force early on Monday

Ahead of G20 Summit in Delhi, PWD to conduct dry run from September 1-7

As New Delhi gears to hold the G20 Summit from September 9-10, here are the latest updates

Ukraine port hit a day before Putin meets Erdogan for grain deal talks

Moscow says its own food exports face obstacles under the deal, and that not enough grain is going to nations in need

Vladimir Putin to meet Turkish counterpart Erdogan on September 4

Their talks come a week before Turkey and the United Nations seek to revive a Ukraine grain export deal that aided ease a global food crisis

Russia deploys ICBM that Putin says will make enemies 'think twice'

The head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency said Friday that the country has deployed an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile that President Vladimir Putin once said will make Russia's enemies think twice. Agency head Yuri Borisov said Sarmat missiles have been placed on combat duty, according to Russian news agencies. Further details were not reported. The Sarmat is one of several advanced weapons whose development Putin announced in 2018. The silo-based missile, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, is intended to replace the R-36 ICBMs that are known by the NATO reporting name of Satan. The Sarmat reportedly has a short initial launch phase, allowing little time for surveillance systems to track it. In 2022, about two months after sending troops into Ukraine, Putin said the Sarmat would reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice.

India's growing heft: The dichotomy between domestic and global opinion

Handicapped without a UN Security Council veto, India can nevertheless become a great power, but what that will entail remains a work in progress, notes T N Ninan

Putin, Kim traded letters as Russia looks for munitions from N Korea: US

The White House on Wednesday said that it has new intelligence that shows Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have swapped letters as Russia looks to North Korea for munitions for the Ukraine war. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby detailed the latest finding just weeks after the White House said that it had determined that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a recent visit to Pyongyang called on North Korean officials to increase the sale of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. Kirby said that Russia is looking for additional artillery shells and other basic materiel to shore up Russia's defence industrial base. The Biden administration has repeatedly made the case that the Kremlin has become reliant on North Korea, as well as Iran, for the arms it needs to fight its war against Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are largely isolated on the international stage for their nuclear programmes and human rights records.

Drones hit 6 regions in Russia, biggest attack in 18 months: Russia

Russian officials accused Ukraine of targeting six Russian regions with drones early Wednesday in what appears to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine 18 months ago. Drones hit an airport in the western Pskov region and started a massive fire there, the local governor and media reported. According to the Defense Ministry, more drones were also shot down over the regions of Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, Kaluga and the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital. The strike in Pskov hit an airport in the region's namesake capital and damaged four Il-78 transport aircraft, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials. Pskov regional Governor Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to and from the Pskov airport canceled Wednesday, citing the need to assess the damage during daylight. Footage and images posted on social media overnight showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there we

Biden administration to send additional $250 million in weapons to Ukraine

The Biden administration announced Tuesday it will send an additional USD 250 million in weapons and ammunition to Ukraine as part of its ongoing support of Kyiv's counteroffensive. The weapons will be drawn from existing US stockpiles and will include mine-clearing equipment, artillery and rocket rounds, ambulances and medical gear, among other items and spare parts, according to the State Department. The package will help Ukrainian forces on the battlefield and support its air defenses as Russia continues to launch brutal, brutal strikes against the people of Ukraine, including attacks this past week, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. The State Department said the package contained AIM-9M missiles for air defense, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System munitions, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition and more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The US would have already run out of funding for the year to provide additional stockpile equipment to .

Kremlin says Putin not planning to attend Wagner chief Prigozhin's burial

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend the funeral of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin following his death in a plane crash, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn't say where or when the chief of the Wagner Group military company would be buried, although some Russian media suggested it could take place as early as Tuesday in Prigozhin's home city of St Petersburg. St Petersburg's Fontanka news outlet and some other media said Prigozhin, 62, will likely be put to rest at the Serafimovskoye cemetery, which has previously been used for high-profile military burials. On Tuesday, heavy police cordons encircled the cemetery, where Putin's parents are also buried. Increased police presence was also reported at some other city cemeteries. Prigozhin's top lieutenants, who died in Wednesday's crash alongside him, were also expected to be buried in St Petersburg. The country's top criminal investigation agency, the Investigative Committee, ...

Putin conveys to PM his inability to attend G20; Lavrov to represent Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin who conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit here next month and informed that Russia would be represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Prime Minister's Office said. During their telephonic conversation, the two leaders also reviewed progress on a number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, a statement issued by the PMO said. President Putin conveyed his inability to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10. While expressing an understanding of Russia's decision, PM Modi thanked President Putin for Russia's consistent support of all initiatives under India's G20 Presidency, the PMO said. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch, the statement said.

Boris Johnson alleges Putin 'must have killed' Wagner boss Prigozhin

Johnson wrote in an op-ed, speculating about Prigozhin's last moments, a few days after a plane carrying the Wagner boss crashed in a field northwest of Moscow

Russia's Wagner mercenaries face uncertainty after death of Prigozhin

The Wagner Group's presence extends from the ancient battlegrounds of Syria to the deserts of sub-Saharan Africa, projecting the Kremlin's global influence with mercenaries accused of using brutal force and profiting on mineral riches they seized. But that was under Yevgeny Prigozhin, who in what could have been his final video released earlier this week appeared in military fatigues and held an assault rifle from an unidentified dry and dusty plain as he boasted that Wagner is making Russia even greater on all continents and Africa even more free. On Wednesday, a private jet carrying Prigozhin and his top lieutenants of the mercenary group crashed northwest of Moscow, two months after he led an armed rebellion that challenged the authority of President Vladimir Putin. There is wide speculation that Prigozhin, who is presumed dead, was targeted for his uprising, although the Kremlin has denied involvement. That crash has raised questions about the future of the Wagner Group. In ...

Vladimir Putin probably approved Yevgeny Prigozhin's killing, say US, UK

In Putin's first comments on the crash, the Russian president said on state TV Thursday that "preliminary information says that some Wagner employees were there"

Putin will not personally attend G20 summit in India: Kremlin spokesman

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally attend the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced here on Friday. "No, the president has no such plans, the official Tass news agency quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying. The format of Putin's participation would be determined later, Peskov said. Putin did not personally attend the just-concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. He was represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. President Putin decided against attending the first in-person BRICS summit after Covid-19 as the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia. South Africa is an ICC signatory and was expected to help in Putin's arrest if he was present in the country.

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